TAMPA — Twenty years of the Busch Gardens Adventure Camp has trained counselors for the rain.
Even when it's all day and floods streets in Tampa.
"We live in Florida. We all know it rains," said Bill Street, Busch Gardens director of education and conservation.
The camp, along with dozens of other summer day camps across Tampa Bay, had to reschedule outdoor plans when wet weather continually drenched the area this week.
At Busch Gardens, there are shelters for kids to duck into. If the forecast says afternoon showers, they'll do outside activities with animals and rides in the morning, Street said.
Rambunctious first-graders were supposed to go on a nature ride this week at Boyd Hill Nature Park in St. Petersburg.
Instead they sat inside and watched an instructor handle a snake as rain pelted the window.
Anne Sizdanto, supervisor at the nature park, said rain seldom affects the camp.
But "it usually doesn't rain this long," she said, looking out the window. Definitely still raining.
Four inches of rain soaked Pasco County on Wednesday. Other counties received about an inch and more on Thursday. Flood warnings stretched into the night on Wednesday and Thursday.
All three Boyd Hill camps, including herpetology and pioneer camps, spent the rainy days in a classroom.
Tristin Ware, the Florida Aquarium's education camp coordinator, said instructors always have a Plan B.
"It's usually relatively minor just little afternoon storms that run in," she said, not this continual downpour.
About 20 kids went for a galloping ride through light rain at Armando Gort's horseback riding camp. They waited a few minutes for the rain to die down before their afternoon ride.
"The kids don't care if they get wet," he said. "They look forward to riding the trails."
Everything went as planned at the Lowry Park Zoo camps, even though the zoo shut down Wednesday. Leinani Bernabe, a spokeswoman, said campers went on a zoo hike and created enrichment toys for another wet mammal: the manatee.
As with at Lowry Park, parents haven't complained to Busch Gardens or asked for a refund because their kids go home enthusiastic.
They tell stories of petting lemurs, Street said.
"When you're a parent, and you hear that cool stuff, you're like, 'Oh, all right. That was awesome,' " Street said.
Jackie Alexander can be reached at (727) 893-8779 or jdalexander@sptimes.com.
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